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Population Europe Report of Activities 2009-2018

In his treatise on Metaphysics, Aristotle, a pioneer in the studying life expectancy and demography more generally, pointed out that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This idea also applies to Population Europe, the network of Europe’s leading demographic research centres: In joining forces, the partner institutes are able to address a much broader regional and thematic scope in their policy dialogue activities, publications and other outreach materials than a single institute could do alone. Additionally, science dissemination to policy and other audiences has become a more and more specialised branch which requires experienced communication experts and a professional infrastructure that uses tools that have been proven efficient. Collaborative efforts within the network Population Europe allow for a broader range of activities, more comparative approaches, as well as a more intense knowledge exchange at the European and international level. Finally, decision-makers in policy, the economy and civil society have a need for solid evidence based on the most recent scientific insights and state-of-the-art methods.

One does not have to be a prophet to predict that demand for such knowledge will grow in the near future: In the next decades, the last cohorts of the so-called baby-boomer generations will reach retirement age. Family forms in Europe will become more and more diverse. Fertility rates are increasing, but most European countries are still not seeing a strong upward trend. Since 2015/16, the need for more reliable migration flow projections and more in-depth knowledge about how we can better integrate immigrants has reached the top of Europe’s policy agenda. At the individual level, we should know more about whether life expectancy and better health for a longer period in life will still increase and up to which levels; and how people’s educational attainment, employment conditions and work-life reconciliation, as well as healthcare, social security and old-age provision will contribute to their lifetime performance. On the other hand, we should know more about the most vulnerable parts of society, those who have lower chances to make it to an active and healthy age due to their less-advantaged socio-economic background, poor educational attainment, longer periods of unemployment, chronic diseases or health deterioration over their lifetime.

This recent report shows the activities of the network Population Europe since its foundation in 2009. Through regularly updated information and face-to-face dialogue on the most recent research evidence, which is presented in an easy-to-access way at the highest level of scientific reliability, the partners seek to substantially contribute to policy debates and decision-making about the most important future challenges of our societies related to population change.